A new study, published in Music Education Research, examined whether an extended music education had an impact on pupils’ experienced satisfaction with school. Nearly 1,000 pupils at ten Finnish schools with extended music classes and comparison classes participated in a survey that measured the quality of school life at Year 3 and Year 6.

According to the results, the differences between the extended music classes and the comparison classes were significant at Year 6. But there were no differences between the groups at Year 3. The most likely explanation is the amount of music lessons which was four hours per week for the extended music classes and one lesson per week for the normal classes.

Merely attending an extended education class at Year 3 did not cause differences in school satisfaction. To explore whether belonging to any extended education class would have the same benefits, some extended education classes that focus on visual arts and sports were recently included in the analysis. However, school satisfaction in these classes did not differ from that in the normal ones at Year 6.

"Singing in a choir and group performance are popular activities at extended music classes. Other studies have established that people find it very satisfying to synchronize (合拍)with one another. That increases connection within the group and may even make people like each other. Other objects in the school do not have as much training in synchrony and cooperation as music lessons, which could explain part of the phenomenon,” says doctoral student Pävi-Sisko Eerola, at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland.

A particular answer may be that girls usually tend to give more positive scores on satisfaction with school and they also make up the majority of pupils at extended music classes. However, the gender differences do not fully explain the observed results. In fact, it seems that extended music classes improve the quality of school life more for boys than girls.

Maybe it’s impossible to adopt the Finnish music education system, but the benefits of having a few extra hours of art and self-expression via music every week are dramatic and necessary.

You are walking down a busy street on your way to work. You pass a busker (艺人) playing a song you haven’t heard in years. Suddenly, you’re mentally reliving the first time you heard the song. The music takes you right back to where you were, who you were with and the feelings associated with that memory. This experience is known as a music-evoked autobiographical memory. It’s a common experience and it just comes to mind spontaneously. Amazing, isn’t it?

Research has recently begun to explore the connections between music and evoking memories. First, music tends to accompany many distinctive life events, such as celebrations, graduations, weddings and funerals, so it can play an important role in reconnecting us with these self-defining moments. Music also often arrests our attention, due to the way it affects our minds, bodies and emotions. When music draws our attention, this increases the likelihood that it will be encoded in memory together with details of a life event. And this then means it is able to serve as an effective reminder of this event years later.

Another recent study found that more familiar music evokes more memories and brings memories to mind more subconsciously. And the reason is that we typically reengage with songs more often over our lifetime compared to films, books or TV shows.

Indeed, the power of music to connect us with our past shows how music, memories and emotions are all linked—and it seems certain songs can act as a direct line to our younger selves.

“It seems then that music appears to have the ability to reconnect us with more emotionally positive moments from our pasts. This suggests that using music therapeutically may be particularly fruitful. That will be great news for some patients.” says Kelly Jakubowski, Assistant Professor in Music Psychology, Durham University.

More than 7,000 runners who raced earlier this month in a half-marathon in London were under the influence of a scientifically designed and powerful stimulant — pop music.

The upbeat music at London's “Run to the Beat” race was chosen based on the research of sport psychologist Costas Karageorghis of Brunel University. He has learned how to design music to be as powerful, if not more so, as some of the illegal stimulant. “Music is a great way to lift spirits both before and during physical activity. A lot of athletes use music as if it's a legal drug,” Costas told LiveScience.

Costas and his team collected data during the “Run to the Beat” half-marathon, allowing them to test on thousands of live runners outside the lab. Despite strong winds and heavy rain during the event, interviews after the race suggested that the runners found the music inspiring and fun.

In the future, Costas expects a fusion of sports and music, where the crowd and the athletes are motivated by music in the race, while motivating one another. “It is beyond the music,” he said. “The music inspires team spirit. One of the key causes of motivation is the feeling of being together with one another. Having suitable music allows you to get this feeling naturally.”

The link between music and athletic performance is just one example of the amazing power that music has over our minds and bodies. Scientists also have confirmed that music improves memories, as we all have experienced, to the point where we don't even have to hear a song. We just think of it and the memories flood in. Music has also been found to relieve pain, make you smarter, and remove bad emotions.